Sunday, September 21, 2014

On Thursday Hourglass Cosmetics hosted a special preview event to celebrate the opening of their Flagship Store on Abbot Kinney in Venice Beach. The unveiling of their first retail store marks the brand's 10 year anniversary. Per Hourglass founder and CEO Carisa Janes, "it is a milestone occasion" where a"brick-and-mortar location is an opportunity to bring the brand to life with state-of-the-art design and exceptional service."

I was thrilled to be able to attend the preview celebration and was thoroughly impressed with the sleek and modern design of the store. The store itself is 1400 square feet with an upper level for makeup application, lessons and private services. At the event they had several stations where you could get your lip makeup done by one of their artists. By the time I arrived I found the entire store was extremely busy and packed with makeup artists, editors, bloggers and other industry experts who were invited. I only stayed for a short time but saw some familiar faces and said hello to Beauty Professor and Beauty Frosting. Even though it was very crowded, I managed to weave my way through the store and snap a few detail shots. The store has an exquisite design that is beautiful. It is sleek, modern and inviting. I hope to be able to visit Venice Beach again in the upcoming month to experience the store in its entirety.

The store officially opens to the public on Septenber 22, 2014.

Among the items I was able to preview in the store include the line's first skincare item, the Equilibrium Serum which will be exclusive to the boutique for a while (scheduled to launch soon). There was also an Ambient Lighting Bar which looked interesting and I need to find out more about. It's designed to be a way for clients to customize their own palette with three shades of the Ambient Lighting Powder (review on Luminous Light and Radiant Light). I saw most of the product lineup displayed with the exception of the eye palettes/shadows but it could have possibly been something I simply missed due to the crowd. I was really hoping they would have the new Ambient Lighting Blush Palette available for preview at the store but it had not arrived yet.

As we left there was a small gift bag given away to each attendee, mine included one of the Ambient Lighting Powder Palettes. Since I already have one of the palettes, I'm giving my extra one away. You can enter via the Rafflecopter widget below (refer to the widget for terms and conditions). There are several ways to enter and I'm making this an international giveaway where 1 winner will be selected to receive 1 Ambient Lighting Palette (you must be 18 years or older).

A huge thanks to Hourglass for hosting such a lovely and well organized preview event for inviting me! I can't wait until my next visit to the store to experience the entire line in person. The store officially opens to the public on September 22, 2014.

You can enter the giveaway below, there are multiple ways to enter, entries will be collected through the 25th of September and end at 11:45 PM PST. See terms in widget for more information.

Friday, April 4, 2014

I made my first trip to the NARS Boutique in Los Angeles on Melrose last weekend (follow them on Twitter @NARS8412Melrose or the official NARS account @NARSissist). The boutique has a sleek and modern design with large wall-sized NARS prints, clean crisp kiosk displays and individual mini booths in front of large mirrors for makeup application. One of the artists helped show me how to use the new contouring powders. In addition I loved playing with the new brush line and matte multiples. The Melrose store opened in late 2012 - if you haven't been to a NARS boutique before, I highly recommend visiting one.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Diptyque recently opened another boutique in Los Angeles on Larchmont. The store has an intimate cozy design with a similar vibe to the boutique in Costa Mesa. The store reps were incredibly friendly to everyone even with the store packed with customers. I learned more about the new skincare line and received a few samples with a purchase (still haven't tested them yet but eager to). I also left with a long wishlist of new candles to try but managed to leave with only two new ones. I love that the boutiques carry some exclusive scents and more accessories - it makes the visit fun with new things to discover and learn about.

I always love visiting a new boutique. Diptyque always manages to style their home candles and fragrances so beautifully in stores. You can find more coverage from The Beauty Look Book visits on Diptyque Boutiques located in San Francisco and South Coast Plaza. Have you visited one of the boutiques?

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